Section III : What is the Perfect Work of Patience?
SECTION III: What Is the Perfect Work of Patience?
THIRD GENERAL HEAD
What Is the Perfect Work of Patience In general, a thing is said to be perfect when all the parts that belong to it are brought to completion. Thus, the creation of the world is described as perfect when, as it is written in Genesis 2:1–2, "The heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them." In the same way, when the whole work of patience, in all its distinct parts and operations, is fully accomplished, then patience has its perfect work.
There are four components of this head which together complete the notion of patience being made perfect:
1. Its privative work (that is, what it restrains and puts off).
2. Its positive acts (what it actively performs in the soul).
3. Its positive fruits (what it produces as outcomes).
4. Its adjuncts of perfection (what accompanies and completes it as a full and finished grace).
All of these elements combine to make patience perfect. And the evidences and testimonies concerning each will serve to confirm every detail of the earlier description of patience already given.
First Branch—The Privative Work of Patience I begin with the privative work of patience. This lies in this: when faith, through patience, mortifies those turbulent passions that continually arise and are contrary to it. Just as love, when perfected, casts out fear (1 John 4:18), so also patience is perfected when it expels those opposing affections—or even when it restrains excessive thoughts and fretting over our afflictions and crosses, to the extent that our minds are imprisoned by them and drawn away from all other things.
I include "thoughts" here, because Christ says in Luke 24:38, "Why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Why are you troubled?" For when afflictions weigh heavily, they stir up many anxious thoughts—just as when weights are placed on a clock, they make its wheels spin rapidly. Inordinate affections generate an inordinate multitude of thoughts, fixing our minds on a single object—such as what we have lost or expect to suffer. But perfect patience corrects and regulates the excess of all these passions. It brings the soul back into possession of itself—as Christ says in Luke 21:19, "By your patience possess your souls"—so that a man dwells within himself again. For otherwise, the violence of such passions drives us out of ourselves, as it were, and casts our souls out of doors, leaving us not at home within.
To give specific examples of such passions:
1. Inordinate Grief.
You know how Job's patience is praised, even by our Apostle James. When Job suffered the loss of all his children and
possessions, he expressed no grief, no inner turmoil, so far as the account records. If there had been such expressions at that time, Scripture would surely have noted them—as it does later record other occasions of impatience under heavier afflictions of a different nature. But in response to those outward losses recorded in chapter 1, all that is said of him is pure patience and submission to God: "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away"—acknowledging the Lord in both actions—"blessed be the name of the Lord." And, the final verse says, "In all this Job did not charge God foolishly."
2. Envy and Passionate Anger.
(1.) Envy, which often rises when we observe that others have been spared similar losses or afflictions. "Why should such and such a one—who is my equal—escape with his possessions intact, while I suffer such loss?" says the troubled heart. This is a silent complaint. Even good people are often tempted to this.
"The spirit that is in us"—even in saints—"lusts to envy" (James 4:5). But God, in the end, "gives more grace"—that is, when men are humbled and broken under afflictions, as the same passage notes.
The contrast between the holy apostles and other Christians in the early church illustrates this kind of patience. No men were more eminent in suffering, except for Christ Himself, than the apostles.
Yet, consider how they regarded the condition of others—such as the Corinthian believers (1 Corinthians 4:8–9), who were prosperous.
"Now you are full, now you are rich, you have reigned as kings without us." Corinth was a wealthy city, and the Christians there enjoyed an abundance of outward things. But as for us, says Paul,
"God has set forth us apostles last, as it were appointed to death… You are honored, but we are despised… we hunger and thirst, are
poorly clothed, mistreated, and homeless… we labor, working with our own hands… being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure it; being defamed, we entreat… we have become as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now." Yet, Paul did not envy their fullness. No, he wished them true and spiritual prosperity:
"Would to God you did reign," he says (verse 8), meaning, in spiritual blessings. He wished them all the inward riches of God and Christ, together with their outward abundance.
What had rooted out envy from Paul and his fellow apostles? Their sufferings, their afflictions, their being made a spectacle to men and angels. These trials had worked their spirits into that submissive and patient frame.
In the Old Testament, even Joshua—a man of a noble spirit—when still young in years and grace, was moved to envy for Moses' sake.
"Eldad and Medad are prophesying," he said (Numbers 11:29). But Moses rebuked him: "Are you jealous for my sake?" And then he expressed his own spirit, saying, "Would to God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!"
From where did this gracious disposition arise, this freedom from envy? The next chapter reveals another example that sheds light on both his lack of envy and his patience under envy directed at himself.
That was a sharper trial: the envy of his own brother and sister. They resented that God had chosen Moses as His mouthpiece and revealed
Himself to him in a way unlike any other (Numbers 12). "Has the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Has He not spoken by us also?" they asked (verse 2).
But what was the inward condition of Moses' spirit that enabled him to bear both their envy and his earlier trial? Verse 3 gives the answer:
"Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth." Moses himself would have let the matter go without a word—but God heard it and took notice, for Moses' sake.
What had tamed and subdued Moses into such meekness and calmness? Undoubtedly, his great afflictions. His faith, exercised by them, had wrought patience. Hebrews 11:24–25 says, "By faith he chose rather to suffer affliction," and accordingly, he lived forty years as a lowly shepherd—an exile from Pharaoh's court, stripped of its honors and pleasures. It was a sudden trial—he fled for his life on short notice—and a long one: forty years of hardship and servitude.
These sufferings, as great as any endured by any man of his age, made him "very meek." The Dutch Annotations render it "very patient." Ainsworth notes that the Hebrew word has an affinity with afflictions, as if to say, they taught him patience—just as Christ learned obedience through suffering (Hebrews 5:8), of whom Moses was a type. These trials subdued both anger and envy in Moses, and patience had its perfect work in him. Otherwise, we do read of occasions when he was provoked to anger: Exodus 11:8, 16:20, 32:19;
Leviticus 10:16; Numbers 16:15, 31:14, 20:10–11, as Ainsworth has collected them.
Christ our Lord has also taught us a lesson against envy in Matthew 20:15: "Shall I not do what I will with My own? Is your eye evil because I am good?" All things are Mine, He says. Will you envy Me because I have taken something from you and not from another?
Shall a man be sick at heart because another is in health?
3. Inordinate Fears. When excessive trouble falls upon us, we are prone to fear excessively in the moment, and we tend to imagine a thousand future miseries—such as poverty and destitution. These fears seize upon us especially when we see
that the Lord's chastening has begun, and we do not know what the end will be, or how severe it may become. But Christ says in Revelation 2:10, "Fear none of those things which you shall suffer: be faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life."
Here, faith and faithfulness to God—meaning constancy and endurance even unto death—are set in direct opposition to fear.
Faith produces patience, and patience consumes fear.
Fortitude and courage differ from patience in this way: a bold and courageous man may overcome fear if he sees any prospect of escape.
Courage will rally his spirit to resist and defend. But patience, even when it sees no prospect of deliverance in this life, and looks upon nothing but present death, will still strengthen the heart to bear it.
Patience makes a man faithful unto death, steadfast and unwavering, even in the absence of hope, without being overcome by fear.
4. Murmuring Against God. Patience also expels this. Consider Job: the devil schemed to bring about blasphemy against God from Job's lips. "He will curse You to Your face," said Satan. He was confident in this, and took it upon himself to prophesy what
Job would do—even prophesying before God. But the devil was deceived and exposed as a false prophet. Job, far from blaspheming God, blessed Him. "In all this, Job did not charge
God foolishly." I may say of this scene what is said twice of the saints in Revelation: "Here is the patience of the saints." In Job's case, it was the patient frame of spirit that God had worked in him—so highly praised in Scripture—that enabled him to act in this way.
5. Inordinate Cares. Faith, working through patience, mortifies these as well. In view of the great calamities that were about to come upon the Jewish nation—including the believing Jews
among them—before the destruction of Jerusalem (which would try every vein of their hearts), Christ gave two special exhortations in Luke 21, in addition to several others.
The first is found in verse 19: "In your patience possess your souls"— meaning, possess your soul through that distinctly Christian patience which is rightly yours. The second comes in verse 34: "Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be weighed down with the cares of this life"—μέριμναι. These "cares," as the Greek word implies, distract the soul, tearing it apart with anxious thoughts and scattering it in all directions. But the patience which Christ first exhorts to gathers all the soul's powers together and keeps them at home. It calms the heart so that a man regains possession of his soul, rather than being cast into disorder.
Philippians 4:6–7 offers similar instruction: "Be anxious for nothing; but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God…" etc.
Consider also the difference between the two types of soil in the parable of the sower, as recorded in Luke 8:14–15. Of the thorny ground, it is said that "the word was choked with the cares of this life." But of the good ground, in contrast, it is said that it "brings forth fruit with patience." Patience stands opposed to cares, just as it does to restlessness and every other inordinate affection.
Thus far concerning the privative work of patience.
Second Branch of the Third General Head—Its Positive Acts I come now, secondly, to the positive acts and operations of patience, which are many. Let us begin with the lowest and ascend to the
higher.
1. Patience includes an act of waiting upon God and His good pleasure. Waiting is the continuation or extension of faith; where faith, by itself, would falter or grow short-breathed, patience sustains and lengthens it out. The daughter helps the mother, as it were, with an expectation of a blessed outcome.
You find waiting as a principal act of patience in James 5:7: "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord.
Behold, the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receives the early and latter rain." In the same manner as the husbandman waits, so the Apostle exhorts the Christian to do. Likewise, Micah 7:7:
"Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me… until He plead my cause and execute judgment for me," verse 9.
2. It is a waiting with quietness. This also belongs to the work of patience. Patience is not mere endurance by necessity—what we call "patience perforce"—but it is accompanied with quietness of spirit. In Lamentations 3, the church, in her mournful condition, expresses the movements and exercises of her soul. Though she speaks in the third person, which is a common mode in Scripture, she clearly means herself: verse 26,
"It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord." This was spoken while under the yoke, and so it is a fruit of patience. Verse 27 adds, "It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth."
Faith, by its nature, quiets the heart in God—fides habet vim quietativam. Isaiah 26:3: "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." And again, Isaiah
30:15: "In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength." When faith produces patience, it quiets the heart even more deeply.
Patience speaks of quietness even in its very sound. Why? Because it is accompanied by strength. Colossians 1:11: "Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness." Thus, to the degree that faith and patience strengthen the heart, the soul is able to bear affliction—and to bear it with peace and quietness.
"Let not your hearts be troubled," says Christ in John 14. Why? "You believe in God, believe also in Me." Faith in both the Father and the Son dispels trouble from the heart. This is a large part of what Christ means when He says, "By your patience possess your souls"—that is, dwell quietly within your own spirits, as a man abides in his house, which, by the laws of men, is termed his castle.
3. Patience carries the heart forward without fainting or discouragement. "For this cause we faint not." Isaiah 42:4 speaks of the meekness and patience of Christ: verse 2, "He shall not cry, nor lift up His voice in the street." Then follows in verse
4: "He shall not fail nor be discouraged"—or, as the Hebrew more literally renders, "He shall not be broken"—meaning, in His spirit, so as to give up the work God had given Him to do or to suffer. He would continue faithfully until His mission was accomplished.
4. In all suffering, patience submits to God and to His will. The Apostle diligently adds, "if it be the will of God," whenever he speaks of suffering—and he does so repeatedly. 1
Peter 3:17: "If it be the will of God that you suffer." And again in 4:19: "Let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him." Also, in 1:6: "If need be,"
meaning, if God deems it necessary to bring such trials. These phrases, inserted even parenthetically, show how intent the Apostle is to link all afflictions to God's will. The more intense the suffering, the more decisively is it willed by God. And it is patience in the soul that yields and bows to that divine will.
Psalm 39:9: "I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because You did it." Consider when David confessed the sin concerning Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah. He made no mention of the injury to them in comparison with the offense committed against God: "Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight," Psalm
51. And when a judgment for that sin came upon him—through the rebellion of Absalom and the cursing of Shimei (as many interpreters believe to be the occasion for Psalm 39)—David again laid aside all thoughts of the human instruments and looked only to God. He submitted, "because You have done it."
Though he confessed to being in a passion at first, despite his settled resolution not to murmur, yet his corruption boiled up, as is often the case. Psalm 39:2–3: "I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred. My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then I spoke with my tongue." And what he spoke bore the tone of weariness with life. He even asked God to reveal when his end would be, verse 4. So impatient was he. Yet when grace was more fully stirred in his heart, and patience began to have its perfect work, he recognized God's hand alone in the matter—how God had stirred up those wicked men
—and he understood that his contest was with God, not with man.
Then he was truly dumb and silent.
Indeed, if the occasion was Shimei's cursing and Absalom's rebellion, then David's spirit at that time was as meek and submissive to God
as ever in his life. His words in 2 Samuel 15:25–26 confirm this: "If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, He will bring me again, and show me both the ark and His habitation. But if He should say thus, 'I have no delight in you'—behold, here I am; let Him do to me as seems good to Him." He surrenders himself wholly to God's will. It is as if he had said, "If it is good in His eyes to deal thus with me, it shall be good in mine also." He casts himself entirely upon God's sovereign pleasure—even entertaining the most painful supposition a godly man can imagine: that God might have no delight in him. Yet his will fully conforms to God's.
Earlier in Psalm 39, he had said, "And now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in You." And now he adds, "I was dumb." Thus he expresses his submission for the present, and his resolution for the future: "I will be dumb." Piscator and the Dutch Annotations read it in both tenses.
5. Patience leads a man not only to silence, but to put his mouth in the dust. This expresses even deeper humility and submission. To lie prostrate before God with one's face in the dust is to go as low as man can go—to lay himself where, if God would trample upon him, he is ready and willing. In this posture, the soul offers itself to God, declaring readiness to receive anything from His hand.
In Lamentations 3, the church not only waits (verse 25), and waits quietly (verse 26), and sits alone and keeps silence (verse 28), but also "puts her mouth in the dust" (verse 29).
But you may say, "All this was done while the soul still had hope," as is evident from those words in Lamentations 3:26: "It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord;" and verse 29: "He puts his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be
hope." Indeed, David in Psalm 39, as well as in those passages cited from 2 Samuel, also expressed hope in the particular affliction he was submitting to, as seen in verse 7 of the psalm: "And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You." He then mentions the deliverance he hoped for in verses 8–10. Likewise, when Shimei cursed him, his soul gathered hope upon it, believing that God might return blessing for that cursing. 2 Samuel 16:12: "It may be that the Lord will look on my affliction, and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing this day." Yet, it must be noted that both David's hope and the church's hope rose only to the level of "it may be."
6. But gospel patience, sixthly, will produce its effect even when there is no hope concerning the things and circumstances of this life. David and the church said, "If there may be hope;" but patience says, "Even if there is no hope"—that is, no hope in this life that one should ever emerge from affliction. Previously, I distinguished patience from mere fortitude in this: the apostles referred the early Christians to the day of the restitution of all things and the refreshment that will come then. Thus James
5:7–8 exhorts: "Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receives the early and latter rain. Be also patient; establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand." As if he had said, "As for your afflictions, I can give you no hope of release in this life. Let your hearts rest fixedly upon that spiritual refreshment which shall come with Christ at His return."
His example of the husbandman supports this: verse 7, "Behold, the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth." The poor man does not gather this precious fruit until harvest. He sows precious seed—and for him, it is, until harvest-time, as good as lost. The
Psalmist uses the same imagery: "They sow in tears, but shall reap in joy… bringing their sheaves with them." Brethren, a harvest is coming. Joy is sown for the upright in heart for that day. It is now but seed, yet it shall spring forth.
Although the husbandman, to all appearances, regards his seed as lost until the harvest, yet in the meantime he receives the early and the latter rain, which encourage his hope, as he sees God blessing the ground with fruitfulness. This is the apostle's metaphor. In spiritual terms, the early and latter rain signify those heavenly downpourings
—those refreshing dews which the Holy Spirit grants to the soul as pledges and foretastes of the eternal harvest to come. These are given as earnest payments from heaven, assuring the patient believer of the full reward God has determined according to the measure of his faith and waiting. Yet all these hopes still pertain to the life to come.
As for this life, the apostle offers no such promise. Nor does the writer to the Hebrews, in Hebrews 10:36: "You have need of patience," he says—even until the end of life. For it continues, "that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise."
Patience is still needed, all the way to your last breath.
We use the same phrase with someone whose condition is beyond remedy: "You need patience," for the situation is not likely to improve. These Hebrew believers had already endured the spoiling of their goods, verse 34, and had "endured a great fight of afflictions."
Yet the apostle says the trial is not over. "You have need of patience still." They were not likely to recover their possessions or estates.
Therefore, the only hope offered is that of the final restitution of all things, which shall come at the day of judgment. Verse 37: "For yet a little while, and He who shall come will come, and will not tarry."
Therefore, verse 35 exhorts: "Cast not away your confidence, which
has great reward." The only temporal hope is that the time remaining will not be long.
7. A seventh operation of patience is that it causes the soul to sanctify God in the heart in every way. I shall again refer to Job's conduct, whose patience is so highly praised by the Apostle.
When Job's outward losses—his children, his property—had all come upon him, and the sorrowful news reached his ears and heart by messenger after messenger, until nothing was left to lose, what did he do? Job 1:20 says, "He fell to the ground and worshiped."
He had been diligent in worship before, especially concerning his children—interceding that they might not sin, as verse 5 shows. Yet all his former prayers and sacrifices did not prevent the loss of his children, nor of his possessions. But now, when everything is gone, the first thing he does is to fall down and worship.
Question.—What does that act of worship contain in it?
Answer.— I will limit myself to what Job's speech expresses and what the posture of his worship signifies, for both plainly reveal what was in his heart that moved him to act in such a way, and what was moving within him in the act itself.
1. He adores God in His sovereignty, both in his falling to the ground and in his words: "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away." He acknowledges: "He is the Lord." That is, the sovereign Lord of all. All that I had was His own; and shall He not do what He wills with what is His own? (Matthew 20:15). I am the clay, and He is the potter. He is the Lord of me and of all that belongs to me. Job had prayed for his sons—just as we have prayed for our city—so far as he could, according to the light he
had concerning what may affect them. Yet despite his faithful prayers, God removed them by a violent death. In this, God appears to have shown displeasure even with Job's prayers, just as He may have done with ours for the city. Still, Job begins to worship again and adores the Lord afresh, even after all this loss. And this was the very first thing he gave himself to.
Faith and patience move the heart to turn toward God in all circumstances, and will cause it to express gracious affections in one form or another. To adore God—which was most fitting for the condition he was in—is a higher act than merely praying, though it is most often expressed within prayer. As he did at the beginning, so he continued in this practice and principle. Though he became troubled and restless when his sins and God's wrath came upon his conscience, yet even in the midst of his impatience, he returned again and again to this posture of adoration and humility before God.
In Job 23:11–12, you see how this afflicted man bows before God and submits himself. He begins by affirming his integrity in verse 10 and expresses his faith that the outcome of these trials would be for his good: "He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held fast to His steps," and so forth.
As if to say: "Though He knows I have walked uprightly with Him, yet His purpose and determination to try me continues; and none of my former prayers could prevent it," as he says in verses 13–14: "But He is of one mind, and who can turn Him? What His soul desires, that He does. For He will complete what He has appointed for me."
In other words, whatever portion God has allotted to me—as this trial has been—I must accept it and submit. "And many such things are with Him"—many strange, unusual, and wonderful dealings—and we must glorify Him in all. Here you see that Job is adoring God's sovereignty. This passage is among those noble declarations of
patient submission for which Scripture commends him, and even in his most troubled moments, we find him still revering and bowing before God.
2. He humbles himself to the dust—he falls to the ground.
First, as a creature, poor and stripped of everything. "Alas, what am I?" he might have said, "and what do I have to claim as my own? What do I possess, or what am I, that I have not received?"
I came into the world a poor, naked being; and now, stripped of all, I am just as poor and naked as then. And as naked shall I depart. I had nothing at the beginning; I have nothing now; and I shall carry nothing with me into the life to come. This is how he speaks.
When Jacob feared the loss of his goods and children, as Job actually experienced, see how he humbled and abased himself beforehand, as recorded in Genesis 32:10. "I am not worthy of the least of all Your mercies," he confesses before the Lord. "I am not worthy of a morsel of bread, and You have given me all that I have." He reflects, as Job did, on his original condition, both in terms of wealth and family: "I crossed this Jordan with nothing but my staff," he says, "and now I have become two bands," both of cattle and children. If God should now take all, he is only returned to the place where he began—where
God first found him.
Jacob's best human strategy at that time was to attempt a compromise, hoping he might preserve at least half of what he had.
"If I can only save half my estate and half my children," as he reasoned in verse 8, "then, considering the risk of losing all, I will be content." But now, he brings his entire cause to God and surrenders it all. His self-abasement occurred before any loss, in the hope that
God might preserve what he had. Job's humbling came after the loss of all. Yet both men display the same deep humility.
And as you see Job here humbled as a poor creature—one as destitute as any has ever been—so elsewhere you find him just as deeply broken over being a sinner. He confesses himself to be as naked and empty in regard to any righteousness of his own, or any ground on which he could stand before God. The great Apostle does not more thoroughly divest himself of all confidence in the flesh in Philippians 3 than holy Job does in Job 9:2: "I know it is so of a truth: but how can a man be just with God? If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand." And even more deeply and explicitly he says in verses 20–21, "If I justify myself, my own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse." His meaning is this: even if I had the highest degree of inherent holiness, yet if I appear before God seeking justification, "I know not my own soul"—that is, I pay no regard to anything within myself, I utterly renounce all confidence in it. Yes, "I would despise my life"—that is, I would regard all the holiness I have exercised throughout my life, and all I possess in myself, as worthless; I would count it as dung and refuse. Though in the matter of sanctification and uprightness, he boldly maintained his integrity even before God, yet as to justification, he utterly abases himself.
We find that other saints, in their afflictions, have shown this same patience in light of their sins. One might consider David, how he humbled himself in the great distress we mentioned earlier—distress that silenced him, as you saw in Psalm 39. "Deliver me from all my transgressions," he says in verse 8. The remembrance of his sins struck him dumb before God, for in the very next verse he says, "I was dumb, I opened not my mouth." Likewise the church, in Micah
7:9, declares, "I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him."
3. A third act, which is part of Job's worship of God, is his blessing of God, as shown by the words that accompanied his worship.
This blessed disposition of spirit was the fruit of his faith working through patience in the midst of his suffering. Behold— his great afflictions cause him to bless the Lord. "Blessed be the name of the Lord," he says. He blesses God for having given to him in the first place—acknowledging with gratitude the blessings of children and possessions that he had enjoyed for so long. "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." He is thankful for what he had received, and he deems it only reasonable that, having received good from God, he should also accept adversity if God so wills, as he later says in Job 2:10.
He blesses God also because he perceives that God had given him heavenly blessings that could not be taken away. He finds the love of God to be unchanging. It is a sure principle that we never truly bless
God unless we first perceive that God has blessed us; just as we do not love God unless we are first assured that He has loved us. When the soul experiences that, even in afflictions and trials, God is still blessing it, this stirs the heart to return blessing to God. Then the soul says, "It is not only the will of my Father—shall I not drink the cup He gives me?—but it is the blessing of my Father; and shall I not bless Him for it?"
"In everything give thanks," says the holy Apostle in 1 Thessalonians 5:18. That is, no matter what the condition may be, there is always reason for thankfulness—and therefore always reason to bless God.
Third Branch of the 3rd General Head.—The Fruits of Patience These the Apostle calls "the peaceable fruits of righteousness" which chastening produces in those who are trained by it (Hebrews 12).
These fruits are gained through patience wrought by afflictions.
1. The first fruit is contentment—a holy contentment—which adds a perfection to the previous operations of this grace. As Paul writes in Philippians 4:11–12, "I have learned, in whatever state
I am, therewith to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." He had learned this, as Christ learned obedience, through suffering, and through having experienced a wide variety of conditions.
A man may be content even when he is not fully satisfied. When God orders a man's condition to match his will, then he is satisfied, as in Psalm 17:14, "whose belly You fill with Your hidden treasure." But contentment is another matter. It is not when my condition conforms to my will, but when my will is brought into conformity with my condition. Then I have as much contentment in little as in abundance, for, as Christ said, "a man's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." It is true that a man would prefer, as Paul expresses, to have abundance; yet patience inclines his judgment to approve of his present state as that which is best for him, seeing it as that which God's wisdom has appointed. His will is so bent into alignment with God's will that he rests in contentment.
2. A second fruit of patience is self-sufficiency. This is the meaning of the word in 1 Timothy 6:6, "But godliness with contentment is great gain." The Greek word μετʼ αὐταρκείας, here translated
"contentment," carries a deeper meaning. "Contentment" is too narrow and limited a word; the Greek more fully signifies "selfsufficiency." In 2 Corinthians 9:8, the same word is translated
"sufficiency," but in the original it includes "self," implying a sufficiency within oneself, a supply that does not depend on external things. The verse reads, "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work." Let us consider this.
It is true that in the expression "all grace," Paul includes outward blessings—such as material provisions—so that they might always have enough for themselves and still abound toward others in generosity. But the primary emphasis lies on the inward grace of selfsufficiency, without which no external abundance could bring satisfaction or a heart disposed to give. A man's natural lack of this inward sufficiency—his restlessness and grasping spirit—makes him narrow and unsatisfied within, and thus he would not be content even if he possessed the entire world. Therefore, this inward grace is what the Apostle chiefly commends.
From this, we can rightly infer that if, on the other hand, a true Christian is in great need, or reduced to extreme poverty—whether in comparison to what he once had, which is the case for many godly souls now, or in contrast to others who still live in abundance—yet if God grants him this inward grace of self-sufficiency, he may still be as content and as spiritually full as those whom Paul wishes to abound in outward things.
The reason is that the sufficiency of even the wealthiest does not lie in the abundance they possess, but in this inward grace—this spiritual frame of heart—which God gives through patience.
This is made clear in that earlier passage to Timothy, where Paul uses the same word to comfort believers who were living in a state of material want, as the context of verses 6–8 shows: "Godliness with self-sufficiency is great gain"—yes, virtually as much, or more, than possessing all the world, according to Christ's own words. Paul continues: "for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, let us be therewith content." For so much, God has undertaken to provide.
The holy Apostle also testifies of himself, that he had learned to be just as content in want as in abundance. This same spirit is evident elsewhere in the midst of all his needs and sufferings—proving that patience, through affliction, had taught him well. In 2 Corinthians 6, after cataloging his sufferings (v. 4), he concludes with these remarkable statements (v. 10): "As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing all things." In these few words, he encapsulates the very truth we have seen both in that chapter and in the paradox of our present text. His
"being sorrowful, yet always rejoicing," corresponds with "count it all joy when you fall into various trials," as James exhorts. His "having nothing, yet possessing all things" mirrors the state of those
Corinthians who were said to "always abound in all things." And in his "being poor, yet making many rich," he surpasses them all—for no wealthy man, however generous, could ever claim to enrich others as he, the Apostle, did through the gospel.
Thus, we see it is possible, and even attainable, that a Christian, though stripped of all, may yet have an all-sufficiency in himself— surpassing the fullness of the richest man. And all of this is the fruit of patience—of steadfast endurance under affliction. For Paul speaks of these things in the very context of his sufferings. And thus, patience, having its perfect work, shall make you perfect and
complete, lacking nothing—even in outward things—though you may have lost all.
If you ask me, From where does a Christian derive this selfsufficiency within himself, and wherein does it lie?
I answer: If God and Christ dwell in the heart; if I have the earnest of the Spirit for my salvation, or am made a partaker of His holiness, and possess that grace which accompanies salvation; if I delight in the will and glory of God, and in pleasing Him—then I possess a selfsufficiency within me. As it is written in 1 John 4:16, "We have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love; and he who dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him." Then we have all things within ourselves. It is as if a man had all necessary provisions stored within his own house so abundantly that he has no need to go outside for anything—so it is with us when God dwells in us.
3. A third fruit of patience is joy. As Paul writes in Colossians 1:11, "Strengthened with all might, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness." You also find it in James 1:2, "Count it all joy," and in Romans 5:3, "We glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces patience."
You might ask, How can this be? Does not the Apostle say in Hebrews 12:11, "No chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but grievous"? And does not our Savior say, "You shall weep while the world rejoices," and the like?
I give these answers:
First, the object of your joy is not the afflictions themselves. No man can delight in sufferings simply considered in themselves—they are grievous, as the Apostle says. But your joy is in what results from them, in the end and reward of your trials. That is the matter of your joy and the reason you are to "count it all joy." To rejoice in the affliction itself is one thing; to rejoice in the expectation of its outcome is another.
Second, notice how gracious the wording in James is: "Count it all joy." That is, esteem it so. He does not say you will feel all joy at the present moment. But even if you do not feel it now, you may reckon it as a matter of joy—that is, you may consider and judge it to be so, as many interpreters explain. You may reason your way into joy with your understanding, even if the emotional experience of joy is presently absent.
Third, Jesus Christ Himself, when He endured the cross, was not filled with the emotion of joy at that time. While He hung upon the cross, and earlier in Gethsemane, His soul was sorrowful unto death.
Yet it is said in Hebrews 12:2 that "for the joy that was set before Him He endured the cross." He is presented there as our example:
"Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus." It is sufficient if you fix your eyes on the joy that is set before you, which you confidently expect to come, even though you may not presently feel that joy.
Fourth, you may not experience much joy now, yet in time—after being much exercised in patience—it may grow up in you. This is precisely the point the Apostle makes in Hebrews 12:11: "Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." On the strength of this hope,
he encourages them in verse 12 to "lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees."
Fifth, some Christians have experienced, and you may also experience, actual joy in the very moment of affliction. These two— great trials and great joys—can indeed dwell together in the same heart. The Apostle reconciles them in 1 Peter 1:6: "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials." The phrase "you greatly rejoice" points beyond merely counting it joy for what is to come; it describes actual present joy. Thus, the affection of joy may be deeply stirred even while, at that very same moment, outward circumstances bring sorrow. They are compatible. And Paul, in Colossians 1:11, speaks of the saints being strengthened with glorious power to endure "with all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness."
Why else would the Apostle so insistently say, "Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say, Rejoice"? He does not stop at saying it once, as if he merely wanted them to rejoice a little. No, he repeats it because they are to rejoice abundantly—and not just occasionally, but always, in all conditions and at all times.
Paul himself is the example of this coexistence: "As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing."
Fourth Branch of the 3rd General Head.—Some eminent properties or adjuncts of patience, which, added, make it and its work perfect 1. When a person's spirit is brought to perform these duties with ease, such that he does not need to chide his own heart into a patient frame, nor force himself into it—this is one mark of perfect patience. Just as Ezra is said to be a ready scribe, Ezra
7:6—that is, he was thoroughly prepared for his work, his heart having been trained and accustomed to it, verse 10—so patience has its perfect work when it prepares and disposes the heart to act in such a way with readiness. Thus, the Apostle declares in Acts 21:13, "I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." His heart was so completely prepared that he hesitated not at all; indeed, it was a grief to him that his friends sought to dissuade him: "What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart?" It was through long endurance and the habit of patient suffering that such a disposition was wrought in him—his heart was not unready or untrained.
2. A second adjunct or property that adds perfection to patience is durability and constancy in its practice.
First, that it is not merely by fits and starts. That was Jonah's fault.
Oh, he was a broken and humble man when in the belly of the fish; but how quickly did he return to rage when delivered! In contrast,
Moses exemplified patience through its consistent and enduring exercise. Hence he was honored with the title of "the meekest man on earth." And it was not merely due to a gentle temperament or natural virtue—though these may have contributed—but it was a spiritual grace, the grace of meekness, and consequently of patience, wrought in him by the Holy Spirit and cultivated through much suffering. Chiefly for this reason he was a type of Christ, in accordance with God's promise to raise up a prophet like unto Moses
—like in many ways, and especially in this grace. As Moses is commended for it, so Christ in the Gospels presents Himself as an example: "Learn of Me, for I am meek," etc. Consider how persistently Moses bore with that perverse, murmuring, and rebellious nation—patiently enduring their provocations against both
God and himself, and continually interceding on their behalf. So also does Christ continue to bear with and intercede for us. And although
Moses was, at times, justly angry—indeed, exceedingly so, as recorded in several instances collected by Ainsworth—yet it was most often in God's cause. The general tenor of his spirit remained meek, for which he received that renowned commendation. We only read of one occasion where he was significantly overcome with impatience:
Numbers 20:10–11, compared with Psalm 106:32–33.
Second, patience is perfect when it continues to the end. A color is said to be perfect when it is durable—like a dye soaked in grain, or the enduring colors of India, which last as long as the fabric itself. So also, "he who endures to the end shall be saved" (Matt. 24). You will find that long-suffering is added to patience in two places: Colossians
1: "Strengthened unto all patience and long-suffering." There, patience refers to the weight or intensity of affliction, and longsuffering refers to its duration. The other instance is in Paul's personal testimony, 1 Timothy 3:10: "You have fully known my longsuffering, charity, patience." Likewise, James 5:7 speaks of the husbandman, whose example is given to persuade us to patience—he
"has long patience." This is true perfection: to bear long and to the end. "Be faithful unto death" (Rev. 2:10). It is one thing to carry a great burden for a short time—a quarter of an hour shows some patience. But to carry it for a day, or a week, or longer—that is longsuffering indeed. Why is it said in Hebrews 10:36, "You have need of patience, that after you have done the will of God you might receive the promise"? It is because, even after a long and active life of obedience, when you are near to the promise, your patience may then be most severely tested.
3. A third property or requirement of perfect patience is that it be universal. This occurs either when a person has been tried in all